Manti Te’o won’t be entering the draft

Posted by Josh Alper on December 12, 2011, 8:38 AM EST

AP

You can cross one potential first round pick off your list.

Our colleague John Taylor at College Football Talk shares the news that Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o announced this weekend that he’d be heading back to South Bend for his senior season. Te’o shared his thoughts with the world at an awards ceremony on Saturday night and the Chicago Tribune revealed Sunday that Te’o made the choice after his father advised him to declare for the draft.

Te’o, who can change his mind up to January 15th if he so desires, checked out where he stood with scouts by requesting an evaluation from the NFL about his draft prospects. He’s ranked among the top tier of prospects for the 2012 Draft by every draft analyst, but the pull of another year in college is obviously exerting greater sway than shaking Roger Goodell’s hand come April.

Te’o leads the Irish with 115 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks this season, which ends with the Champs Sports Bowl against Florida State on December 29th.

12 responses to “Manti Te’o won’t be entering the draft”

He wants to delay being another Notre Lame player being a bust in the NFL. He wants to go back and play one of the softest schedules any BCS team could have and act as though they should play in one of the BCS games.

ready for this, it is kind of crazy so you might want to sit down for it….. a degree. wow, wait a minute, college football players earn degrees sometimes. this couldnt be it could it (please notice the sarcasm).

Hate all you want ND haters but they beat Mich ST, should’ve beaten Michigan and if not for Dayne Crist, would’ve beaten USC. They also outplayed Stanford in the 2nd half when a real QB started playing.
Te’o will lead an improved and faster Irish D next year.

realitypolice: Ummm, I get it that your mom got her degree when she was 47 but do you know how hard it is to go back and get back in that mind state? I did it and it was hard. For him to stay and play another year and get his degree…bravo! Foot ball will be good for him and his family but sometimes accomplishing other feats are worth more than a paycheck.

Good for him. Sounds like he’s really enjoying his college experience. Hopefully, he stays healthy and has another strong season. If not, then I’m sure there will be a chorus of reactionaries to decry what a mistake this was.